Zich’s voice rang across the battlefield and garnered all the attention of those around him. Through this war, Zich became well known among the allied forces, and so many people recognized him; after all, he was the one who had participated in earth-shaking battles every time he clashed with Glen.
Count Flaud’s forces hesitated upon seeing Zich. Although they were all fighting machines trained to fight to the death, they couldn’t help but stall in front of Zich’s tremendous power. Fortunately, there was no need for them to deal with Zich directly, as there was one person who immediately responded to Zich’s call.
Whoosh! As soon as they thought the wind swept them, one figure landed near Zich.
Thud!
Zich stared at Glen. The two exchanged looks as Glen’s eyes also fixated on Zich. Then, the two swung their swords in unison.
Claaaang! Their swords collided and a shockwave swept across their surroundings. It was such a strong wave that would’ve made the well-trained knights lose their balance if they didn’t hold their guard. In the center of the shockwave, Zich and Glen glared at one another with their swords clashing against the other sword.
“Hah! To think you would run to me because I called. Even a trained dog wouldn’t be so obedient.” Zich made a snide remark with his crooked mouth.
“I will kill you for sure this time!”
“Should I call you foolish for clinging onto something you won’t be able to achieve? Or should I applaud you for your perseverance in not giving up on something that’s impossible? Tell me what I should say. I can do at least that much for you.”
“You’re all talk!”
Boom! Zich’s body flew away from the mana pouring out of Tornium. Glen followed up with another attack immediately as if he was determined to not disrupt the flow.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Glen’s merciless attacks were like a storm. Black mana fiercely shot toward Zich, and Zich deflected each attack with his long experience in battle. Yet, because of their difference in levels, Glen’s attacks soon pushed back Zich’s attacks.
Maybe Glen was happy that he was cornering Zich, but he excitedly yelled, “What is it?! You talked so arrogantly but you can’t even do much! I suppose your great friends aren’t here today!”
Zich didn’t respond and quietly blocked Glen’s attacks. Glen thought Zich didn’t even have room to respond right now. It was partly true since if Zich lost even a little bit of his attention, Tornium would pierce his body. However, as it had been until now, Glen’s wish wasn’t fulfilled. Unlike how Glen was pushing back Zich, the entire battle was leaning in favor of Steelwall. The allied forces outnumbered them, but they were mentally drained from the sudden ambush and traps. Their sword swings also felt heavier than usual. The elves’ arrows continued to pour at them, so the allied forces were losing members at a much higher rate. Yet, the allied forces persevered, and they moved to steadily push back the Steelwall forces with their superior numbers—until something that broke their fighting spirit appeared.
Boom! They heard another loud explosion from the rocky mountain. The allied forces were shocked.
‘Not another…’
‘No way! Did they really cause a landslide when their companions are here?’ The allied forces turned to the rocky mountain. Thankfully, they didn’t see boulders and rocks rolling down, but what they soon saw was even more terrifying than a landslide. If it were a landslide, their enemies would be swept up in it at the same time, and they could move to increase the damage inflicted on their enemy. However, what descended from the rocky mountain were soldiers in heavy armor.
“There are more enemies!” The allied forces’ captain had maintained his calm until now, but he was extremely shocked.
‘Where in the world have they been hiding?’ It didn’t make sense for troops to suddenly pop out on a rocky mountain with so little cover. Yet, that was what exactly happened.
‘Was it their plan to pull out most of our forces and defeat us in groups?!’ If that was the case, they had played right into their enemy’s plan. Even if the allied forces had endured well until now, their balance would break once the armored soldiers from the mountain joined the fight.
“Captain!” The vice-captain called out to the captain in an anxious voice. The captain gritted his teeth—there wasn’t even a moment for him to think now.
“Retreat!” In the end, the captain ordered his forces to retreat; he skillfully separated parts of his forces immediately and placed them on each side to block the Steelwall forces. The soldiers stationed at the sides of the group were meant to buy time with their lives, but they faithfully followed the captain’s order. Using them, other soldiers began to escape from the battlefield.
“You talked so boldly, but you lost again,” Zich said. Zich’s body was in tatters after blocking Glen’s attacks by himself. His clothes were soaked in red from the blood dripping from his injuries. His sword had dents and chips everywhere, as it failed to endure against Tornium. In contrast to his body, however, Zich’s expression was very bright, and Glen’s confident face was scowling.
“You bastard!” Glen swung Tornium again. There was another big shockwave, and Zich blocked Tornium with his sword. Zich’s sword chipped away again, and Glen pushed Zich back in that condition.
“Even if I have to retreat, I will go after I kill you!”
“Ah, I knew you would do that. You are so clingy and pushy—just the kind of style that isn’t popular with girls.” Then, Zich smirked. “That’s why Lara dumped you.”
Clang!
“Ugh!” Zich groaned at Glen’s increased power. It seemed like his provocation was very effective this time. He could clearly see the blood vessels in Glen’s eyes. Zich’s hands trembled. Glen’s Tornium could cut through Zich’s sword and slice Zich any time now. However, Zich’s expression did not change.
“Why are you getting so mad? Are you the type to refuse to believe in the truth even when it’s right in front of you? That’s one more tiresome character trait you have, and one more reason why you’re so unpopular. Did you perhaps get dumped by other people besides Lara?”
“You!”
“Sir Zenard! What are you doing?! We were ordered to retreat!” One knight called out to Glen Zenard.
Zich said, “Hey, your comrade is calling out to you. Don’t you have to go now?”
“I’ll kill you first!”
“I’ll give you some advice, but you should never confess your love like this. Even a hundred years of passion will immediately cool off. Is this the reason why you were dumped even before you confessed?”
“Stop saying nonsense! Something like that has never happened to me!”
“No, just think a little harder.” Zich lowered his voice like an evil villain plotting in the dark. With a vile smile, Zich continued, “Lubella and Leona. Even though they’re supposed to be your comrades, you weren’t even able to talk to them.”
“It’s because of you, bastard inter…!” Glen’s movement stopped with a jerk. His movement just now seemed more like a machine coming to a sudden halt. “…What did you just say about Lubella and Leona?”
“Why are you surprised? You tried to make them your comrades along with Lara, right? To fight against me.”
Glen’s eyes widened to their maximum.
“Ah, to be exact, not against Zich, but against the Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore.”
“You, you…”
“You want to ask how do I know this? Or how much I know? Or maybe it’s a different question.” At that moment, Zich pushed Tornium to the side, and Glen couldn’t properly respond due to the shock. Zich immediately moved back his body, which had been pressed tightly against Tornium, and rushed towards Glen. No matter how rotten to the core he was, Glen reached an extremely high level of swordsmanship. So, he swung his sword to hastily block Zich’s attack. However, compared to the overwhelming skills he showed before, his movement was now slow enough for Zich to yawn. Of course, his defense didn’t work against Zich.
Clang! Unlike its name as the demon sword, Tornium bounced off way too easily, and Zich thrust the sword into Glen’s abdomen without hesitation.
Pierce!
“Ugh!” The sword went straight through Glen’s stomach, and Glen groaned in pain. Zich put more strength into the sword. Crunch!
“Aghh!” Zich’s sword was pushed into Glen’s stomach to the hilt, and Zich put his blood-stained hand on Glen’s head and said, “Who am I?”
“You…you…what…” Glen stuttered as he spat out blood.
Zich was extremely pleased to see Glen’s face contort into astonishment and horror. “I don’t know. Who could I be? Am I Zich Brave, the courageous hero who fought against the Demon Lord for the justice of the world? Or am I Zich Moore, the Demon Lord of Strength who terrorized the world with blood? Or am I something entirely different?”
Zich laughed like an evil spirit who tricked people and led people to their deaths. “What do you think I am?”
“Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A knight swung his sword from the side, and Zich immediately pushed Glen in his direction.
“Ugh!”
The knight was shocked to see Glen being pushed toward his sword. He frantically tried to move his sword away and succeeded. However, that had precisely been Zich’s intention as the knight completely lost his balance in the process.
Smack! Zich’s fist slammed into his head, and not only the knight’s helmet, but his head was shattered into pieces. Zich pulled out the sword from the falling knight’s body and looked at Glen. He saw another knight pick up Glen and run away with him on his back. Then, several other knights protected the back of the knight carrying Glen. It was clear that they were trying to protect Glen even while sacrificing their lives.
Zich thought, ‘They’re intent on protecting Glen more than themselves.’
Technically, saving Glen would be more effective than saving the lives of several knights for the allied forces since Glen was much stronger than multiple knights put together. This was an obvious decision for the allied forces lacking strong soldiers with expert skills.
‘Is it an order, or is it their will?’ However, Zich pushed the thought away because regardless of their reasons, there was only going to be one outcome. ‘They’re all going to die.’
Zich didn’t intend to kill Glen here, and this was the reason why he had aimed for Glen’s abdomen. However, the knights were blocking Zich to defend Glen. ‘I have no intentions of chasing after Glen Zenard, but there’s no reason for me to peacefully let my enemies in front of me go, right?’
Zich was still wounded from his battle with Glen, but such small wounds posed no challenge to him in combat. ‘Victory was achieved as planned, so I don’t have to go and help the other side. All right, I’ll treat these pitiful guys to a full-course meal.”
Zich was merciful enough to give them all a tragic, pointless death.
Like this, the first clash between the Steelwalls’ detachment and allied forces ended with a one-sided victory.